Not really, in fact this actually makes it less likely that a Tales character, or any other character from a Namco Bandai game will me in the next super smash bros. Most of the time cross over games are actually developed by companies that own the any of the IPs that appear is said game.

Not sure how I feel about this at all. So long as the quality of the series still remains high, it still remains that Smash Bros. feel, and doesn't feature anymore retarded out of place 3rd party characters then I am totally happy.

No what it is that nintendo knows that SSB is gonna take years to make since they just started it, partnering with namco will really speed up the process. but in a good way though they really have top tier devs from namco.

So out of all the fighting dev teams Namco has none of them are working on this game, WTF? I'm kind of worried about this game. There's still the fact they have to make 2 different Smash games from scratch on 2 different systems.

I'm sure they are probably still using the same base engine, but merely updating the graphics and creating new characters, game UI, multiplayer, story, etc.. Nintendo knows that hell would be raised if the core mechanics were changed in a significant way.

Guys, if you would read/do research, you'd know that Sakurai is still heading ALL development of both games. Namco is simple AIDING Nintendo in the development process of the games. They're not calling any shots or making decisions, they're basically hired help.

This is great news because this means we'll see the game sooner than expected.

Sakurai has gone on record to say he'll take in more input from his team though. So regardless the development team will have at least a small say in some of the creative development.

This is great news to me since Namco is known for great fighting game balance. Not to mention the potential character roster! Gimme some Nightmare and Lloyd Irving and this'll be a day one purchase for me... not that it wasn't going to be before.

oh shit, this is gonna be freaking awesome Project Sora + Namco is like the dream team when it comes to fighting games. plus another good thing we can expect the online to be top notch just like all namcos fighting games. can't wait

Guess Nintendo is cashing in a check, considering they own some stock in Bandai/Namco......finally going to make them work on a project for them. I cant say I am happy with the news at the moment, but I will try to reserve my judgement until I see some of the product in motion. Cautiously optimistic at the moment !

This is absolutely great news. Anyone who's played a tales game can tell you that the basic battle system is actually really similar to smash. I can see this turning out very well. Heck, you can practically copy and paste any tales character and you'd only have to worry about balance.